Some Parties Miss Out As INEC Publishes List Of Governorship Candidates

Some political parties have missed out as INEC released the list of governorship candidates across the country.

Eko Hot Blog reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released the final list of candidates that will contest the governorship and houses of assembly election in 28 states of the federation in the 2023 elections.

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In a statement released on Wednesday, the commission’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, said the list contains 18 political parties that fielded 837 candidates and their running mates for 28 governorship elections. (There will be no poll in Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, Ondo and Osun states which are no longer part of the general elections cycle.)

The statement also showed that 10,231 candidates are set to contest for 993 seats in the state assembly elections.

The document sighted by this news platform shows that parties in some states missed out of the list because of ongoing litigations.

At least 14 candidates in 12 states did not make the INEC list due to the litigation and controversies that dogged their parties’ primary elections.

For example, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will not field governorship candidates in Akwa Ibom and Ogun states respectively.

The APC candidate in Akwa Ibom State, Akanimo Udofia, missed out against the backdrop of the crisis in the state chapter of the party and the refusal of INEC to monitor the primary which produced him. It, therefore, rejected his candidacy in line with the Electoral Act 2022.

At least four suits had been filed against the Ogun State governorship candidate of the PDP, Ladi Adebutu.

Last week, a Federal High court sitting in Abeokuta, nullified all the primaries conducted by the PDP in the state.

The governorship and state houses of assembly elections will take place on March 11, 2023, according to the elections timetable for the 2023 general elections.

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See full list of the approved governorship and houses of assembly candidates here.

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